By Ian S Palmer
WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico returns to the ring when he faces Jeo Santisima of the Philippines this Saturday, February 22nd. The 12-round fight can be seen on ESPN and Fox pay-per-view in America and on BT sport Box Office in the UK as it’s on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury rematch. Navarrete last fought in December when when he stopped Francisco Horta in the fourth round. This will be Navarrete’s fifth fight and title defence since last May. Santisima last boxed in December when he stopped Rene Dacquel after three rounds.
The 25-year-old Navarrete won the title by beating Isaac Dogboe by unanimous decision in December of 2018 and then stopped him in the 12th round in their rematch last May. Navarrete has an impressive mark of 30-1 along with 26 big Kos which gives him a current knockout ratio of 84 per cent so he obviously has quite a bit of power. The champion stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 72-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2012 when he was just 17 and has boxed 136 rounds since then.
Navarrete’s lone defeat came in his sixth pro bout when he came out on the wrong end of a four-round unanimous decision to Daniel Argueta. Other than meeting and beating Dogboe twice, the average fan won’t really recognize many of Navarrete’s opponents up to now though other than perhaps Dennis Contreras, Luis Orozco and Glenn Porras. But on the bright side, most of his foes have entered the ring with winning records. He proved he has a solid chin against Dogboe and his power didn’t appear to fade in the later rounds.
Santisima is just 23 years old and has a mark of 19-2 with 16 Kos. He’s also got some power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 76.2 per cent. His defeats came at the hands of Marlon Acilla by a six-round majority decision in his fourth contest and to Roniel Parcon by four-round unanimous decision in his pro debut. Santisima has 78 rounds of pro experience under his belt after a decent amateur career and has won 17 fights in a row with 15 of them coming by knockout.
Santisima has fought his entire pro career in his homeland against limited opposition. His wins so far have been against the likes of Jerry Nardo, Marco Demecillo, Junior Bajawa, Goodluck Mrema, Master Suro and Kichang Kim. He stopped Likit Chane in the third round for the vacant WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight Title in June, 2018 and defended it against Uriel Lopez by 12-round unanimous decision five months later. Santisima is 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 67.5-inch reach which makes him an inch shorter than Navarrete with a 4.5-inch reach disadvantage.
Prediction…
Navarrete loves to keep busy and he’s always in top shape. He’s facing a hard hitter in Santisima and will need to be wary of his power. Still, I’m expecting Navarrete to hold on to his title once more on Saturday night in what could potentially turn into a slugfest.
